The government’s urban design watchdog has accused housebuilders of chasing profit at the expense of creating well-designed properties that give residents enough space to live.
In a report today, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment called for minimum space standards to be introduced for all new private homes, claiming some were too small to allow “everyday activities” such as cooking dinner or recycling.
CABE said UK homes, the smallest in Europe, should be made more spacious after conducting a survey of 2,500 homeowners whose properties were built between 2003 and 2006.
It found 35% did not have the kitchen space for basic cooking appliances such as a toaster or a microwave and that 72% of respondents had too little space for the three bins required to recycle properly.
More than half (57%) of people said they did not have enough storage and 47% could not accommodate all the furniture they would like.
Additionally, 44% of UK homeowners did not have enough space for small children to play in the kitchen while meals are being prepared, and 37% did not have enough space to entertain guests.
CABE said: “Housebuilders often protest that people won’t be able to afford houses with more space. In fact, the barrier is the profit margin that publicly limited companies feel obliged to make.”
Chief executive Richard Simmons said the research brought into question the argument that the market will meet the demands of people living in private housing developments.
He said: “We need local planning authorities to ensure much higher space standards before giving developments the go-ahead.”
Simmons said the Homes and Communities Agency should produce new cross-agency standards for space. Minimum standards are already in place for affordable housing.
He added that private housebuilders and estate agents should provide better information for buyers, using net floor area rather than the number of rooms.
The findings have been published in CABE’s Space in new homes: what residents think.
